Tom Taylor has written for DC comics, like Batman, Legends of the Dark Knight: The Crime Never Committed, and Injustice: Gods Among Us. And he wrote many Star Wars comics for Dark Horse. He liked Locke & Key, a comic book series written by Joe Hill and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez. He described as brilliant the Fables comic series by Bill Willingham. He liked Terry Pratchett’s non-Discworld novel Dodger. And he liked Gun Machine, a 2013 detective thriller by Warren Ellis.

K. C. Webb is the author of the Johnny Marsh adventure novels for teenagers, Dream Raider and Soul Trader. In Dream Raider, the school nerd Peter Wright asks Johnny Marsh to help him investigate a nightmare he keeps having. Their investigations take them on a terrifying journey and they battle against pig-like beings and a sadistic creature known as the Mauler. Mr Webb liked the novel Atrocity Week by Andrew McCoy. This is the story of rich hunters in Africa pursuing human quarry.

Robert White gave some great reading tips, especially for screenwriters and movie-makers. He appeared at the Gold Coast Supanova talking about Progeny, a supernatural series under development for the web. In the series, Zac Evans is the Devil’s son, but he decides to become a Sydney detective.
Mr White liked The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. A 1949 book of comparative mythology, the book outlines Campbell’s theory of the journey of the archetypal hero, which influenced George Lucas in his writing of Star Wars. Campbell talks about the monomyth, which is what a lot of myths had in common. The monomyth has a number of stages: The hero lives in the ordinary world and receives a call to adventure. If the hero accepts the call, he faces a road of trials. He could face them alone or with help. With help or skills gathered along the way, the hero faces a severe challenge. If he survives, he receives a great boon, maybe gaining new self-knowledge. He can return to the ordinary world with this boon.
Mr White also liked the Sandman graphic novels.
Another favorite was Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.
And he liked Tough Shit: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob who Did Good by Kevin Smith. It’s written by the creator ofthe movie Clerks about his life including the making of 10 movies.

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– copyright Simon Sandall